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Dr. Caron of UDEL was conducting surveys a few years ago on winter losses. I suppose he was trying to see a trend in the numbers due to certain practices. What was really sad is that out of five states, (WV, MD, DE, NJ, PA) only 75 people responded to the survey. That is an absolutely lousy response from the beekeepers here. I'm sure a lot of them didn't know anything about it, I know I didn't. If we want to improve the way we keep bees we need to help out the doctors, professors, or researchers when we can. I sent Dr Caron ane email to see if he was still doing the surveys. Maybe we can help him get more than 75 responses if he is.

SHB Deadouts

Unfortunately I've had experience w/ a SHB dead out. I'll post links to pictures when I get home, but the comb is sticky and runs with fermenting honey, the bees look tired, worn, out and simply overwhelmed. The comb will have gross black areas where the beetles have deposited their excretions, and the cells are chewn all the way through. You'll also definately see more SHB and their little white larvae than bees. It looks very similar to Wax Moth damage only not as much web stuff.

Stan,
I'm sure many will go along with your comment. Don't be surprised, I don't...

This past year around here, we had many "classic" starvation hives, just as you suggest, claimed by beekeepers. Bees in cluster with bee heads all sticking in cells. I heard then same story many times.

Here is my take. Bees have a lifespan that is programed. The fall and winter bees shortened their life by being very active all fall last year. We had temps in the 50's and 60's all the way through January. And this extra activity took its toll. Although some hives were rearing brood, they were not keeping up with the losses that were occurring. So the clusters were getting smaller with what I think were faster than normal shrinking clusters.

So when the cold snap finally hit in late February and March, the clusters were not able to deal with it as they normally could of. Larger clusters in November and December usually handle cold snaps well. But the later in the year we get, the risk of loss increase. Throw in the activity that a warm November, December, and January caused, and the speeding up of bees death rate, and late clusters were vulnerable.

And many of these hives had bees found with heads sticking in cells. And some suggested that bees would not move off the brood. I think that's baloney too! Bees will cannibalize larvae and brood if they need too. To suggest they chose death over moving to feed a few inches away goes against mother nature in so many ways. And goes against what bees show us in many other ways where survival is chosen over volunteered death.

What happened was these bees were raising brood as warm weather dictated and out of necessity to get their numbers up. But that last cold snap froze bees in cluster. And bees in cluster try to warm the cluster and brood, will fill in any cell they can find. Meaning they are all head first in empty cells creating heat.

So finding bees head first in cells is not a clear indicator for starvation. I know you can read that classic comment in many books. But its not true just the same.

Bees head first in cells can mean more than starvation. Sorry if it took a good bit to get that out.

I haven't heard mention of trachael mites. Since TM affects adult bees and not larva, it is more common to have a deadout from TM in winter, usually within 2 to 3 months after your queen shuts down, when there is no brood to replace the infected adult bees. These bees will die head first in cells too even when there is stores for them.
Dr. Caron of UDEL has replied to my inquiry about his ongoing study of winter losses. When I get the info I'll pass it on for those who wish to participate.

I'm not sure about the 'dead bees with heads in cells = starvation scenario either. i've found them like that many times when the hive has died out late in a very mild winter (ie one with very few, very mild, frosts), with plenty of stores within inches. I put those down to queen failure. The bees died while resting in the cells, and there weren't enough live bees left to remove them.

Other than looking for AFB scale, once a colony is dead I don't spend much time wondering why or trying to figure out what caused the colony to perish. That said, sometimes you will see that drone cells are present where the worker brood is and this would indicate a drone layer or laying worker had been there and that the colony dwindled because of lack of replacement bees.

I guess a dead colony in the spring which shows evidence of starvation would lead you to a diagnosis of starvation, but what does that tell you?

So, as I said, check for AFB Scale and if none found, put some new bees into it and get on w/ beekeeping.